Wednesday 30 October 2013

Wednesday 30th October: The Prix Pictet Commissions: Ed Kashi & Chris Jordan at Somerset House















Whilst roaming London on my recent culture outings, I stumbled across this beautiful exhibition at Somerset House which has brought together four photographers.  They were commissioned to undertake a field trip to a region where the sponsor has a sustainability project with the each taking the theme of either water, earth, growth, power.  Here is "growth" translated by Chris Jordan in Kenya and "earth" captured by Ed Kashi in Madagascar. 

The top six images here are from Jordan's  "Ushirikiano: Building a Sustainable Future in Kenya's Northern Rangelands".  Ushirikiano (‘partnership’ or ‘collaboration’ in Swahili) examines the communities that inhabit Kenya’s Northern Rangelands, where poverty, drought and wildlife poaching threaten their precarious existence.  If you look closely at the detail of the warrior, he as a toothbrush and mirror tucked into his sword - this is my absolute fave shot of the show.  Head over to his site to see the incredible complete series here.

The bottom four photographs are Kashi's  "Madagascar, A Land Out of Balance, 2009".  Madagascar is classified as one of the world’s top three ‘hotspots’ for biodiversity; yet it is also one of the poorest and most environmentally threatened countries in the world. Ed Kashi’s photographs show the compromised beauty of this threatened island, and the projects that are helping communities develop sustainable practices.

It's the final couple of days so visit Somerset House before it finishes, whilst they put up the Isabella Blow show!

10–31 October 2013    Open daily 10.00-18.00
Somerset House , Strand, London, WC2R 1LA

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